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Investment Banker·Payments

Rob Freiman

Managing Director, Head of Payments Investment Banking at Piper Sandler

New York, NY, USA

RF
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Why they matter

As Piper Sandler's lead payments/fintech banker with a $1B Netspend carve-out and multiple insurtech/fintech exits on his sheet, he's a first call for payments M&A mandates.

Background

Rob Freiman is a Managing Director on Piper Sandler's technology investment banking team, where he helps lead the firm's financial technology practice with a focus on payments, banking technology, financial software, data analytics and AI-driven companies. He joined Piper Sandler in April 2024 from Jefferies, where he was a managing director and Head of Payments Investment Banking, co-leading the fintech practice; earlier in his career he was a senior fintech banker at Houlihan Lokey (and its predecessor GCA Advisors) and began his career at Citigroup. He holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Dartmouth College.

Notable deals

  • 2022
    Advised Rêv Worldwide on its carve-out acquisition of Netspend (prepaid/payments business) from Global Payments, a ~$1B transaction
  • 2021
    Advised HazardHub on its sale to Guidewire Software
  • 2023
    Advised MindBridge on its recapitalization and minority equity investment by PSG Equity
  • 2023
    Advised Betterview on its sale to Nearmap (Thoma Bravo portfolio company)

Call-prep brief

Background

  • MD on Piper Sandler's technology investment banking team since April 2024, co-leading the fintech practice alongside Kegan Greene
  • Previously MD and Head of Payments Investment Banking at Jefferies; earlier at Houlihan Lokey/GCA Advisors and Citigroup
  • Dartmouth College, economics

Current focus

  • Payments, banking technology, financial software, data analytics, and AI-driven financial services companies
  • Both M&A and capital-raising mandates (majority sales, minority growth recaps, carve-outs)

What they care about

  • Building a durable fintech advisory franchise at Piper Sandler after the Jefferies move — track record and repeat mandates matter to him
  • Deal narratives around scaled payments infrastructure (e.g., Netspend-style carve-outs) and data/AI-enabled underwriting platforms

Recent moves

  • April 2024: departed Jefferies with co-head Kegan Greene to join Piper Sandler, a notable team lift-out in fintech coverage
  • Sell-side and growth-equity work spanning payments (Rêv/Netspend), insurtech (HazardHub, Betterview), and audit-tech (MindBridge)

Potential sensitivities

  • Non-solicit/non-compete considerations from the Jefferies exit may limit discussion of in-flight Jefferies-era mandates
  • Wary of appearing to favor former colleagues/clients versus new Piper Sandler relationships

Questions to ask

  1. What's the current bid/ask dynamic for scaled merchant acquiring and payments infrastructure assets given rate and multiple compression since 2022?
  2. Which private payments platforms in his pipeline are approaching a natural sale or recap window in the next 12-18 months?
  3. How is buyer appetite differing between strategics (e.g., Global Payments, Guidewire-style acquirers) and sponsors for payments/fintech carve-outs right now?

Outreach draft

Subject
Payments M&A perspective for an upcoming mandate
Hi Rob, I lead deal sourcing for a private equity team focused on payments and merchant acquiring. Your work on the Rêv Worldwide/Netspend carve-out and other fintech transactions caught our attention, and we'd value your read on where valuations and buyer appetite stand for payments infrastructure and merchant acquiring assets heading into next year. Would you have 20 minutes for a call in the next couple of weeks? Happy to work around your schedule, and glad to share more about what we're underwriting in the space. Best, [Placeholder Name]

Sources